This invention relates to walk behind reel mowers used for mowing golf course greens, and the operator controls for such greens mowers.
It is known to provide reel mowers with a lever which when pivoted initiates the drive mechanism which propels the mower forward. When the operator pivots the lever to its fully engaged position, a locking mechanism holds the lever in its fully engaged position. The operator typically will mow back and forth across a golf course green and keep the mower in a driven mode during the entire mowing operation. When the operator executes a turn he typically will keep the mower in its driven mode and merely turn the mower as it is being driven. A differential allows the mower to be turned easily while it is being driven. When the operator has completed mowing the green he must reach down and manually return the lever to its non-driving position in order to stop the mower's forward travel. These greens mowers generally do not provide an operator presence feature. When maneuvering the mower in confined spaces, the operator can pivot the drive lever slightly from the non-driven position for inching the mower forward in a controlled manner. When the operator releases the drive lever while inching the mower forward the lever will spring back to its non-driven position.
Walk-behind rotary mowers have been provided with operator presence features. One type of rotary mower operator presence mechanism provides a bale which stops the engine when the bale is released. Another type of rotary mower provides a bale which stops rotation of the blade when the bale is released.
It would be desirable to provide a walk-behind reel mower with an operator presence mechanism which return the mower to a non-driving mode when the operator removes his hands from the controls. It would also be desirable for such a mechanism to be simple in construction, made of few parts and relatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture.